I'm constantly reminded of the many hours spent enthralled by rock 'n' roll. All the permutations of rock too, not just narrowly defined genres, sub-genres, or trends, but literally ALL...Rock music is basically what I call anything with heart, spirit, and volume. I like it loud! I also like to hear creative people raging with six-strings. When I pick up a guitar it is a weapon of therapy. When I listen to music it is therapy. The best form of art is music...there I said it. Anyway, the point is that rock will continue on forever. Good bands will come and go. Craptastical bands will come and go. All that really matters is people expressing themselves. No judgement. And yet, here I am in a position of assigning value to musical sounds dubbed to tape.
Kitschy Manitou Records is sending out the rock from Madison, WI. The label seems fairly new, at least new to me, and they definitely specialize in the punk, fuzzed-out garage, VOLUME smear I call rock. They put out a split by Fire Retarded/The New Years Gang that caught my ear. I liked the Fire Retarded side better. The band offers up some noisy riffs and a few decent arrangements. Check out "Looks & Locks," which is my favorite song on the whole album. Good playing. The New Years Gang is more on the "punk" part of the color wheel. They aren't revelatory or anything, but they make a decent racket. I guess it comes down to a matter of taste. For me, askew punk-garage is more interesting than more "normal" punk, but to each his own...
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